Over 40 industry participants attended an inaugural meeting on April 1st to form the Manx Digital Currency Association, MDCA. Chaired by barrister Paul Davis, the meeting moved quickly to approve formation of the Association and get to business.
Among the attendees were representatives of miners, exchanges, banks, gaming companies, CSPs, lawyers, web designers and programmers, hosting providers, payment processors and telecoms. All members will be listed on the Association’s website as it is set up.
Following a report on the recent ruling of the Financial Supervision Commission to the effect that licences are not required for BitCoin Exchange activities, an important statement was made by Peter Greenhill, CEO of eGaming Development with the Isle of Man Government Department of Economic Development. Peter advised the meeting that there is presently no Department of Economic Development policy on eCurrency, however a paper is being prepared internally within government with a view to forming such a policy. He welcomed the formation of the Association and underlined the need to protect the Island’s reputation and economy going forward. He indicated he would provide an update from the government side as soon as possible.
While not in attendance, the FSC has expressed itself glad of the creation of the Association and confirmed its intention to consult with the Association as matters move forward with respect to possible legislation or regulation of digital currency activities. Paul Davis expressed his strong appreciation of the Commission’s pro-active and collaborative stance with respect to developments in this area.
The meeting agreed on the appointment of Charlie Woolnough as secretary of the Association and Miles Benham as legal counsel. The position of President was left open pending further discussions, as was the issue of membership fees. Domicilium offered complementary hosting of the Association’s website (to be constructed www.mdca.im) while Arts-Interactive offered to build the site free of charge.
Commenting on the inaugural meeting, Paul Davis said: “To those not immersed in the world of computers and the internet, crypto-currencies are not easy to understand. Even so, very few can deny that they represent a groundbreaking and exciting addition to the world of global transactions, and all that that entails. There are hotbeds of developmental work all over the world, and I believe that the Isle of Man has the potential to play a key part. Critical to our success, however, is to begin the process of formalisation; of bringing the many advantages of crypto-currencies to the fore and playing our part in their mature regulation as a consumer and business friendly device. The formation of the MDCA represents the first step in creating an open and collaborative resource which brings the Island’s most forward thinking and enterprising individuals together to both initiate and support those new to the market, and guarantee the Island’s future in this very lucrative field.”
Paul Davis also took the opportunity to announce the Isle of Man’s trade mission to Israel, scheduled for September, to target digital currency developers and businesses interested in placing part of their operations or development on the Isle of Man, which appears to be an ideal base for such activities.
The meeting finally agreed to accept an invitation from the UKDCA to create a formal co-operation, and this will be negotiated between the respective Presidents in the weeks to come.
For further information or to express an interest in joining the Association, please contact in first instance paul@countinghouseltd.com.
Photo - Paul Davis
